


Pain and Consequences

by Murderbirb



Series: Molting [2]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Please keep making great content, fuck you KC_R, i hate you so much, you make me hurt so I make you hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:54:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29074395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Murderbirb/pseuds/Murderbirb
Summary: Ghost finds out why they haven’t molted once in their life. They also discover why Hollow called them “Lucky”.
Relationships: The Hollow Knight | Pure Vessel & Hornet & The Knight
Series: Molting [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2133039
Comments: 17
Kudos: 38





	Pain and Consequences

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KC_R](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KC_R/gifts).



It had been a few months since the Radiance had been killed and Hollow had been freed and, since then, Hollow and Ghost had been talking a lot. Ghost had hundreds of questions to ask them and Hornet, all about Hollownest from before. What happened at the failed tramway? What was Quirrel like?.....what were mother and father like? Though, not every question was answered, Ghost was still happy to learn more about Hollownest in it’s prime. (Lemm would be overjoyed to learn all of this.) However, after many questions, Ghost learned about one thing that they were always confused about. 

Molting. 

They’ve always known that they would have to molt in order to grow. What they didn’t know was that they would need to use soul in order to molt. Hollow told them that, apparently, their void nature meant that they would have to absorb large amounts of soul in order to do it. Even though Ghost thought it would be exciting to molt, Hollow claimed that Ghost was lucky that they never had to go through a molt, saying it was a scary and painful process. Despite these warnings, Ghost had managed to convince Hollow to help them with molting. Hollow was reluctant to allow them to do it, but decided that it was ok, but still placed a restriction that Ghost was only allowed to go through the steps of the molt under their supervision. And, if they couldn’t be there as Ghost continued their steps toward molting, they would be supplied with what is required for the steps and would only do what Hollow instructed them to do beforehand. 

And today was one of those days, as Quirrel requested to speak to Hollow at the teacher’s archives. They gave Ghost specific instructions on how much soul to absorb today before leaving. 

Ghost was sitting on a couch with Hornet, who was reading a book. In Ghost’s hand was a small container filled with soul, that they were slowly absorbing. After a few minutes, they looked over to Hornet and grabbed her attention before signing a question. 

“What was molting like for you?” 

Hornet didn’t take long to respond. “Well, it felt odd, to say the least. Both Wyrms and Weavers made cocoons to molt, but while Wyrms would cushion an area around them before making a cocoon in the area, Weavers would make a cocoon on a high point, normally a ceiling. Having both of these instincts made it odd to molt.” Ghost nodded along while listening to Hornet, before focusing back on the soul in the container. They just kept slowly absorbing until- 

A spike of pain surged through their chest. 

Ghost quickly fell to the ground, holding their chest in pain. It hurt so bad. All of their muscles tensed up as they gave out labored breaths. Hornet was quickly at their side. “Oh gods, Ghost! Are you ok? What’s wrong?” She focused on their activity and pieces things together. “Oh no, you’re molting! How!? This is so early! You weren’t supposed to molt for another 3 months! How could this happen?!” 

Ghost hated that they knew the answer to the question, since this was THEIR fault. They we’re taking more soul than Hollow gave them, since they were so excited for their first molt. They shouldn’t’ve, as it hurt so much. Their view began to grow darker as they blacked out. 

——————————————————————

Hornet was panicking, and rightfully so. About 10 minutes ago, Ghost had fallen unconscious and had yet to reawaken. She knew that they must be molting, but she didn’t know why it was happening so early, but stopped thinking about that when she chose to focus on something more important. 

She didn’t know what to do. 

Hollow said that they would instruct the two on what to do when the molt happens, but they were going to do that closer to when they believed the molt would happen. Now, Ghost was prematurely molting and Hornet didn’t know what to do. What was she going to do? What if Ghost ends up dying because she doesn’t know what to do?! What if- 

*Crack* 

——————————————————————

Ghost broke their arm through their shell and pulled themselves out as panicked breaths escaped their form. Hornet ran up to them to try to help them as they tried to walk from their discarded shell, but fell down after trying to take a step. Confused, they looked down and noticed something terrifying. 

Their left leg was missing. 

They felt around their body to find if anything else was gone, only to find that they were missing a horn as well. They should’ve listened to Hollow. This must be the consequences of their premature molt. 

The whole time, Hornet was beside them, her voice was garbled and hard to hear, but before Ghost could focus and find out what she was saying, she touched their exposed arm and they pulled it away. It hurt when she touched the open flesh, but at least it brought them a bit closer to reality, as they could finally understand what Hornet was saying. “-ost, I’m sorry! Oh gods, what am I supposed to do for you.” She was pacing back and forth, as Ghost stayed motionless on the ground, trying not to focus on the pain. Until they felt something change. 

They felt their form falling apart, and it started with one arm. The appendage slowly melted off, to both Ghost and Hornet’s horror. Ghost grabbed hold of Hornet’s leg and tugged, obviously wanting her closer to them. She quickly got beside them, as they gripped onto her cloak, trying to get as close to her as possible. “Don’t worry Ghost, you will be ok. Gods, Hollow where are you?” Ghost’s body felt weaker by the second as they cried into Hornet’s cloak and she tried to comfort them without touching their flesh. 

They couldn’t feel their grip on Hornet. 

They heard a voice crying. 

Their arm and leg went numb. 

They heard the voice yell, “Ghost, no!” 

They 

They...... 

——————————————————————

Hollow was running through the palace as fast as they could. They sensed something was wrong a few minutes ago, before they quickly darted straight for the palace, barely giving Quirrel a goodbye. They ran through the halls, searching for their siblings, until they heard a sound. 

Crying. 

They found the door where the sound originated from and opened it. 

Inside was Hornet, who was crying next to a void puddle. Pieces of mask laid in the dark liquid. Close by was Ghost’s shell, with a split open torso. 

They were too late. 

**Author's Note:**

> >:)


End file.
